Liquid-fuel burner.



W. E. GARD. LIQUID FUEL BURNER.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR. 6, 190a.

Patented Apr. 13,1909.

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UNITED s ra rgs r agnr orrrcn.

WILLIAM E. GARD, OF SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

LIQUID-FUEL BURNER.

Application filed. March 6, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM E. GARD, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of South Orange, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Liquid-Fuel Burner, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to burners adapted for the use of volatilizable fuels, such as various hydrocarbons, and particularly to burners adapted for the use of alcohol and particularly denatured alcohol. It is intended that the fuel shall be burned with a colorless or substantially colorless flame, which may be used for heating an incandescing mantle, for heating an air chamber (as in so-called lamp stoves) and for various other purposes.

The objects of my invention are to produce a simple, easily operated, reliable, and economical burner, to avoid overheating of the fuel reservoir, to avoid possible passage of flame into the fuel reservoir, to make it easy to start the burner in operation, to make it easy to adjust the height of the flame, and generally to provide a burner which shall be compact, neat in appearance, safe, and not liable to derangement.

In the accompanying drawings 1 illustrate a burner embodying my invention, and various of the parts thereof.

In said drawings: F ignre 1 shows a central vertical section ofthe said burner, and of a part of a fuel reservoir therefor. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the valve of the burner. Fig. 8 shows a transverse section of the draft tube and spreader on the line AA of Fig. 1. Fig. e is a detail perspective view of the wick-stop. Fig. shows a central vertical section through the draft tube and wick tube, illustrating means for equalizing or distributing uniformly the jet of fuel-vapor rising from the wick and valve. Fig. 6 shows a central vertical section through the wick tube and draft tube, and illustrates alternative starting means. Fig. 7 shows an elevation, on a larger scale, of the starting means of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a central section of an alternative form of burner, illustrating means for keeping the starting wick moist. Fig. 9 is a detail section illustrating alternative means for separating the wick from the diaphragm or partition in which is the valve port. Fig. 10 is a detail top view of means for extinguishing the starting flame.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 13, nice.

Serial No. 419,522.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to t inclusive, 1 designates the base of a lamp burner, adapted to screw into an orifice in the top of a fuel reservoir, 2.

3 designates a wick tube within the base 1, and 4 a solid wick within this tube, the end of the wick hanging down into the reservoir 2.

is a mixing chamber (mechanically an extension of tube 3, the two parts of said tube being separated by a disk 6 having in it valve ports 7). In the side of this mixing chamber is an air opening, 8.

Above the end of tube is a flame spreader 9, preferably of generally conical form, as shown, said spreader supported by a center rod 10. Said rod (or the spreader itself) is provided, near the top of the tube 5, with a spider 11, by which the spreader is centered at the top.

In the construction shown in Fig. 1, the burner is adapted for heating an ordinary refractory mantle 12; and the burner comprises a chimney gallery, 18, fitting removably over the top of the base 1 and supported by a flange 1% of said base. A draft chimney, 15, is supported by this chimney gallery. The mixing chamber is adapted to receive over it the band 17 of the ordinary mantle-support.

In this lamp, the alcohol or other liquid fuel carried up by wick a is vaporized at or near the top of the wick by the heat of the flame at the top of tube 5, such heat being conducted downward to the vicinity of the wick by the metal parts of the burner; and the fuel so vaporized issues through valve ports 7 in disk 6 and through similar ports 18 in a valve 19 directly above disk 6, and passing upward through the interior of tube 5, mixes with air entering through an opening 8 in the side of the tube, ignites and burns at the top of tube 5, the flame being spread out by spreader 9 so as to heat the mantle 12 effectively. The conduction of heat downward to the wick is desired in this burner; and for that reason I make tubes 3 and 5 of much thicker stock than would ordinarily be used in a kerosene lamp, so that it may be better adapted to conduct heat, and I further place the spreader 9 in good heat-conducting connection with the wick tube, by means of metallic rod and disk 6, and also by spider 11, the branches of which touch the sides of tube 5. To the same end, 1' so construct the burner that there is little conduction of heat away from the lower part of the burner, and very little radiation from such part; to which end, and also for another purpose presently to be named, I surround the upper portion of tube 3 with heat-insulating, non-combustible material 21 contained in an annular pocket formed in the base 1 of the burner.

Since it is desirable to provide a gas space above the top of wick 4t and below valve disk (3, I provide in said tube and above the top of the wick a spacing collar 22 having projections 23 which extend far enough to the center to prevent the wick from being forced up into the collar 22; so that a gas chamber 24- above the top of the wick is insured. This gives ample opportunity for disengagement of the gas and its passage to port 7.

The space between the top of the wick and the disk 6 may be very small; in fact all that is absolutely necessary is that means be taken to prevent closing of the ports 7 by the wick. in the construction shown in Fig. 9, instead of using a spacing collar I use a simple disk of wire mesh material 1:1, which effectively guards the ports 7 and at the same time provides sutlicient space for the free flow of the gas to such ports.

The wick t and a foraminous partition 25 in tube 5, said partition kept relatively cool by the passage of air up through it, abso lutely prevent the passage of flame down through the burner into the fuel reservoir. Excessive evolution of gas is automatically prevented; for gas pressure in chamber 2% tends to check the flow of liquid fuel up through the wick, so that a balance between the pressure in chamber 21 and the capillary power of the wick to draw the liquid fuel up is soon reached. The flow of gas through ports 7 is regulated by turning valve 19 slightly to one side or the other.

To start the burner in operation, the mixing tube 5 must be heated, so that heat will be conducted down to start active evaporation at the top of the wick. To this end the non combustible material 21 surrounding the upper portion of tube 3 is saturated with fuel by dro tiping fuel into it or otherwise; and this fuel may be alcohol taken from the supply in the reservoir 2 or from any other convenient source, or it may be some other combustible liquid. To start the lamp in operation, a suitable quantity of combustible liquid is dropped upon the absorbent material 21 (usually asbestos) and a light is applied as to cause the liquid to flame up, surrounding the mixing tube 5 with flame, and valve 19 is adjusted so that ports 7 are wide open. In a few seconds the burner will be heated to such extent that the liquid fuel carried upward by wick begins to volatilize and pass up through ports 7, mixing with the air entering tube 5 through side opening 8, and passing up to the top of tube 5, Where it ignites and burns. By the time the fuel in absorbent material 21 has burned out, the lamp will be in full operation. The flame may be regulated as desired by means of the handle 26 of valve 19, and nay be extinguished by closing ports 7 by means of said valve.

Various means may be employed for discharging upon the absorbent material 21 the proper amount of liquid fuel to start the burner in full operation. One such device is shown in Fig. 1, and comprises a pipette 27 normally held in a cage 28 depending inside reservoir 2 from the usual filling opening 29 of such reservoir. When the cap 30 of this opening is removed the pipette is exposed and may be lifted, the liquid being retained within it by closing the end of the pipette, and then being discharged into ma terial 21 by opening the end of the pipette at the proper time. Owing to the fact that the pipette is a very small tube, except for a bulb 31 near its lower end, any variation in quantity of liquid carried off by the pipette due to varying height of the liquid in reservoir 2 is very slight and is practically negligible. It is intended that the pipette, when in place, shall reach nearly to the bottom of the reservoir 2, so that whenever that reservoir contains any con siderable quantity of fuel the bulb of the pipette will be filled.

In Fig. 8 1 illustrate alternative means for saturating the material 21 with liquid from the reservoir 2, comprising a small wick 32 extending down from material 21 into the reservoir. In this case, to extinguish the tianie from material 21 and to practically prevent evaporation of the liquid therefrom during the normal operation of the lamp, 1 provide a two-part extinguishing ring adapted to be removed when a flame at the top of material 21 is desired, and to be dropped down over said material when it is desired to extinguish said flame.

In Figs. (3 and 7 I illustrate alternative means for starting the burner in operation, comprising openings 3%. in the side of the wick tube 3, and a collar 85 by which said openings may be closed or opened as desired. A pin 36, projecting from tube 3, and working in an inclined slot 87 in collar 35, and a handle 38 by which said collar may be rotated, serve as means for raising and lowering said collar. .Vhcn fully elevated so as to completely close openings 3%, the upper edge of this ring or collar is pressed tightly against packing material 39 within an inverted trough-flange e10, so substantially preventing escape of gas through openings 3% and preventing any possible passage of flame down through openings into the fuel reservoir. In using this burner, the collar 35 is lowered and a flame applied to one of the openings 3%, so causing the vapor to ignite and flame to surround the upper part of tube 3 and the tube 5, and when the parts of the burner are sufficiently heated, and the gas is burning freely around the spreader, the collar is raised again, extinguishing the flame around tubes 3 and 5.

In Fig. 6 I also show the mantle supported by a hollow central mantle rod d2 of considerable size, which not only affords acentral support for the mantle and to some extent (if of considerable size as shown) acts to cause the gas to pass up close to the mantle instead of near the center, but also serves to conduct heat downward from the flame to the wick tube; the occasion for the conduction of heat in this manner having been explained above.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and (3, the valve disk 19 is held in place by the spreader rod which screws upon a screw stud d3 projecting upward from the disk Using a plurality of ports 7 in disk (3, and corresponding ports in the-valve 19, av very uniform flame is produced. The jet of gas issuing from these ports and passing upward through the mixing chamber adds materially to the flow of air through this mixing chamher. If it be desired to provide further means for making the flame uniform, or if only a single port 7 be used (in which case there may be some occasion for using means to equalize the flame) a deflecting collar 44, such as shown in Fig. 5, may be used. This collar has a central opening through which the supporting rod of the spreader passes, this opening being just enough larger than said spreader to permit the flow of gas at the desired pressure through it. Such flow will of course be substantially uniform at all points.

What I claim is 1* 1. A. burner for liquid fuel comprising in combination a tubular mixing chamber open at the top, a wick chamber below the mixing chamber, a transverse partition separating said chambers, a flame spreader, and a cen tral support therefor formed of material of high heat conductivity, extending from said flame spreader downward through the mixing chamber to said partition and there supported by it and in good heat conducting connection with both spreader and partition, said partition having ports, on opposite sides of said support, connecting the two chambers.

2. A burner for liquid fuel comprising in combination a tubular mixing chamber open at the top, a wick chamber below the mixing chamber, a transverse partition separating said chambers, a flame spreader, a central support therefor formed of material of high heat conductivity, extending from said flame spreader downward through the mixing chamber to said partition and there supported by it and in good heat conducting connection with both said spreader and partition, said partition having ports, on opposite sides of said support, connecting the two chambers, and means for regulating the flow of gas through said ports.

3. A burner for liquid fuel comprising in combination wick and mixing chambers and a ported partition separating them, a deep pocket surrounding one of said chambers, and heat insulating material within said pocket serving to reduce radiation of heat from the walls of the chamber which it surrounds.

it. A burner for liquid fuel comprising in combination wick ant mixing chambers and a ported partition separating them, a wick in said wick chamber, and a cup-shaped spacing collar between the top of said wick and said partition, perforated for the passage of gas therethrough, and consisting of a collar of substantially the internal diameter of said wick chamber, fitting therein, and provided with transversely-extending means serving to preserve a space between said partition and a wick in said wick chamber.

A burner for liquid fuel comprising in combination a tubular mixing chamber open at the top, a wick chamber below said mixing chamber, said chambers having walls of good heat conducting material, a partition separating said chambers, a spreader 0bstructing the open top of said mixing chamber and in good heat conducting connection with the walls of said chambers, and a central support for said spreader extending downward through said mixing chamber to said partition, and there supported by it, said partition provided with ports, on opposite sides of said support, connecting the two chambers.

in testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ILLIAM E. GARD. itnesses H. M. MARBLE, FRANK E. RAFFMAN. 

